The Platinum Ticket by David Beynon

Wednesday, 5 September 2007

On Saturday I read an article in the Globe and Mail about the decision to transport undetonated explosives from Northern Toronto right down to the Leslie Street Spit to blow them up. Traffic was shut down while the convoy traveled through the heart of Toronto. The even had to chase Audubon Society Scientists off the spit so they could blow the things up. In grumpy old man fashion, I wrote a letter to the editor.

I've gotta get a rocker for the front porch...

In other news I mailed off my 3 Day Novel Entry, Patriot , today. I read it over last night and other than a few typing errorz it's really quite good (if I do say so myself). I will have to wait until January 2008 to find out if it wins.

Yesterday I was suffering from withdrawal from all the caffeine and sugar I consumed to keep me away long enough to scribble out 120 handwritten pages over the weekend. Tons of thanks to my lovely missus for typing the manuscript for me and for keeping the kids corralled for the weekend.

Tuesday, 4 September 2007

Well, I'm done with the 3 Day Novel Contest for another year. I finished Patriot around 9:30 last night when I wrote "The End" on my 120th handwritten page. I have an aching back, a blister on my thumb, a callus on the side of my index finger where I nest the pen. Speaking of pens, I went through three brand new ones over the weekend, the last one dying as I had only about 200 words left in the story.

Anyway, it is done. It's pretty rough but I think it's good. I had only a couple of hours to edit but overall I think it flows well and tells a coherent story. There are a couple of scenes I'm particularly proud of.

I dropped the manuscript off to be printed. I've come to the realization that with printer ink the cost of high grade cocaine, for anything over thirty pages it's cheaper to go to a printer. I'm getting one spiral bound for me to edit at my leisure and another standard manuscript format to be mailed into the contest.

To anyone reading who might have taken part over the weekend - congratulations, I know it's not easy. Anyone interested in learning more about the 3 Day Novel Contest can follow the link.